Kemi Badenoch has revealed she held discussions with a top ally of the US President just hours before he hit out at Labour’s Chagos deal in an extraordinary attack.
Speaking to GB News, the Tory leader blasted Sir Keir Starmer’s deal to give up the archipelago, the cost of which has been estimated by Whitehall to be £101million every year for the next 99 years.
This morning, Mr Trump made a fiery post launching a direct attack on Sir Keir which read: “Shockingly, our ‘brilliant’ Nato ally, the United Kingdom, is currently planning to give away the Island of Diego Garcia, the site of a vital US Military Base, to Mauritius, and to do so FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER.
“There is no doubt that China and Russia have noticed this act of total weakness.”
In agreement, Mrs Badenoch said: “Well, unfortunately for the Prime Minister, Donald Trump is right on Chagos.
“There is no reason why we should be surrendering British territory, which we paid for back in the 60s, for no reason whatsoever. I have to emphasise that there is no reason for us to do this.
“It weakens our country. We’ve got a strategic military base there. The only people who benefit are China and Russia.
“This is something we’ve been talking about for the last 12 months. It is extraordinary that Starmer is doing it.”
Mrs Badenoch hit out at the Chagos deal, backing Mr Trump’s criticism
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GB NEWS
But host Miriam Cates questioned the Tories’ stance, arguing the negotiations were started on her party’s watch.
Mrs Badenoch replied: “The Conservative Party had talks with Mauritius and we said no. We ended that conversation.
“The problem is that after we ended it, Labour picked it up, ran with it, and not just giving it away, but paying £35billion for the privilege. It is not in our national interest.
“That is a strategic military base and the US is now realising exactly what’s going on.”
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Mr Trump launched a blistering attack on the UK this morning
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GETTY
The Tory leader added she spoke with Speaker of the House of Representative Mike Johnson during his visit to the UK.
She told GB News: “We had an extensive conversation about exactly what was going on, and I’m really pleased that after that conversation, President Trump has said what he did today.
“I think that Keir Starmer made a very silly decision to do that, and now he will be suffering the consequences.”
Mr Johnson is currently visiting Britain to give a historic address to Parliament – an honour which has never been bestowed onto a US Speaker before.
This morning’s address was scheduled to commemorate 250 years of American independence from Britain but simmering US-Europe tensions attracted the limelight.
Speaking in the Palace of Westminster, Mr Johnson said he had crossed the Atlantic to “calm the waters” amid Mr Trump’s alarming bid to annex Greenland.
Nevertheless, the top Republican maintained an air of warmth towards Britain, hailing the long-standing special relationship between the US and the UK.
He said: “We have always been able to work through our differences calmly as friends. We will continue to do that. I want to assure you this morning that that is still the case.”